The Willow Pattern

'I see. That being the case, I have to see that puppeteer right now. Tomorrow will be too late. A pity his daughter didn't give you their address, Ma Joong. Wouldn't the keeper of the tavern know it?'

'He doesn't, sir. I asked him, but he said they have no fixed place to stay. It's a travelling show, sir, after all.'

'All right. As soon as we are through here, you go with Chiao Tai to the quarter behind the Taoist temple, and find them. You bring Yuan to my office, together with his daughter Coral. I don't need her sister. Come along! The coroner'll have finished, by now.'

He turned round on his heel and crossed the courtyard, his arms folded in his wide sleeves.

Doctor Lew and the coroner were waiting in the walled-in garden, seated on the stone seats by the lotus pond. They rose quickly when they saw the judge. The coroner handed him an official form and said:

'I have thoroughly examined the body, sir. She must have done it an hour or so after midnight, the time when the human spirit is at its lowest ebb. There were no signs of violence. I agree with the doctor that she did it in the manner reconstructed by him. I have noted all the details on this form. With your permission, sir, I shall now draw up the death certificate, then have the body placed in a temporary coffin. The maid has given me the address of an old uncle in the east quarter who is the next of kin. I shall have him informed, and he shall come and take charge here.'

Judge Dee nodded. 'Leave two soldiers on guard here,' he ordered. 'I want to have a word with you, doctor. Let's go to the front hall. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, you two may leave now and see about the matter I mentioned. Tao Gan, you had better go back to the office, and make the papers for the conference of the wardens ready. I shall join you there as soon as I have talked with the doctor here.'

The judge found a small tea table in a corner of the front hall. Wiping the dust off the chair with the tip of his sleeve, he sat down. Motioning Doctor Lew to be seated too, he began affably:

'I am very interested to hear your opinion on Mrs Yee's suicide, doctor. What was her motive, do you think?'

Dr Lew was visibly relieved at this opening. He had evidently been expecting a severe cross-examination. He stroked his goatee and said ponderously:

'It is not always easy, my lord, to establish the correct diagnosis in mental cases. Since I attended upon Mrs Yee regularly, however, I think I might try to formulate an opinion.' He cleared his throat, and continued: 'One should not speak ill of the dead, of course, but it is my duty to inform you, my lord, that Mr Yee was a hard and cruel man, tormented by perverted lusts. He led a highly irregular dissipated life. Mrs Yee loved her husband, and she suffered deeply when she saw him sinking lower and lower. She then sought to escape from her sorrow by telling herself that her husband was a great and good man, and in course of time she ended up by genuinely believing in this wholly artificial image. This fiction gave her the mental rest her precariously balanced mind so desperately needed. When she heard that he was dead, the artificial image suddenly collapsed, and she was faced with the full extent of her self-deceit. That cruel shock was too much for her.'

Judge Dee nodded slowly. Lew had reproduced exactly his own opinion. He was a shrewd fellow who would have to be handled carefully.

'You are an excellent judge of your fellow-men, doctor. Permit me to ask your opinion on another problem. Not a medical one, this time! As a doctor, you hear of course many things that people, and especially the so-called "old people", never tell to outsiders. Now I was told that Mrs Mei's antecedents are somewhat of a mystery. And my chancery staff doesn't like mysteries when they have to draw up official documents relating to an inheritance. A large inheritance. I wonder whether you could enlighten me.'

Dr Lew seemed taken aback. When the judge met his questioning look blankly, he said with a thin smile:

'The mystery you refer to was deliberately created, my lord. I shall tell you the secret, in the strictest confidence, of course. It came to my knowledge in an ... ah, pro­fessional manner.'

'Do you mean the fact that Mrs Mei was a former courtesan?’

'Oh no, my lord! Yes, that, of course, is the risk one takes if one wilfully creates' mysteries! People love scandal, and irresponsible persons will spread all kinds of nonsense! No, my lord, Mrs Mei never was a courtesan. On the con­trary, she belonged to a very distinguished family, in the old city here.'

'Why the mystery, then?'

'Because there existed an old feud between her father's family and the Mei-clan, my lord. Her father strongly opposed the marriage. But, although Mr Mei was twice her age, she recognized his great qualities, and she persevered. When her father kept refusing, she eloped and just went to stay with Mei, and the marriage was concluded privately, later. A remarkable woman, my lord! Her father was in a towering rage, but he could do nothing about it, and he left for the south. That is all, my lord.'